Green incentives needed for SMEs

 Financial institutions should be more open in providing financing to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) venture
into green technology infrastructure.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui, said currently they were still being conservative in providing financing due to the risk associated with SMEs while the technology itself was still new.

“The banks are still shy. I hope they would be more open and forthcoming to provide more financing to spur green technology development,” he told reporters after launching The Livable Cities Summit, with the theme ‘Moving Beyond: Sustaining Quality Through Growth’ here today.

The summit is organised by Philips.

Earlier, in his speech, Chin said the government planned to undertake bigger green technology initiatives.

“The first is the development of a low-carbon city framework that will serve as a guiding document to all townships and cities that wish to embark on becoming green townships,” he said.

Chin said this would be followed the introduction of the green township rating system which would contain parameters, key elements and performance criteria for certification as a green town.

“This will also contain an in-built carbon calculator where users can calculate their carbon emission and a rating will be provided based on the overall net carbon abatement,” he said.

He said the government has also decided to transform Putrajaya and Cyberjaya into green cities.

“The ministry is now working with the New Energy and Industrial Development Organisation of Japan to produce an action plan for both cities towards achieving the green township agenda,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the progress to introduce the feed-in tariff (FIT) for renewable energy, Chin said the second and third readings of Renewable Energy Bill and Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Bill were scheduled to take place on March 28 and March 29, 2011, respectively.

SEDA is the administering body for FIT, which would enable users to sell excess power to the power grid.

– Bernama